Former Australian captain Steve Smith was at the receiving end of the Indian supporters' derision as they shouted ‘cheater, cheater’ at him, but India captain Virat Kohli has apologised on their behalf. Kohli felt anguished over fans booing Smith during their World Cup match at the Oval on Sunday. An animated Kohli was seen gesturing to Indian fans when Smith was fielding in the deep to cheer him instead.
When asked at the post-match media conference about what made him react while he was batting, Kohli said Smith’s controversial banning over ‘Sandpapergate’ was now history and he must be respected as a cricketer.
“Look, I think what’s happened has happened like long back. The guy is back, he’s trying to play well for his side. Even in the IPL I saw him, it’s not good to see someone down like that, to be honest. We’ve had issues in the past. We’ve had a few arguments on the field. But you don’t want to see a guy feeling that heat every time he goes out to play. What’s happened has happened. Everyone has known that. He’s come back. He’s worked hard. He’s playing well for his side now.”
Saying the booing set a bad example, Kohli said he was apologising on behalf of Indian fans.
“So just because there’s so many Indian fans here, I just didn’t want them to set a bad example, to be honest, because he didn’t do anything to be booed in my opinion. He’s just playing cricket. He was just standing there, and I felt bad because if I was in a position where something had happened with me and I had apologised, I accepted it and I came back and still I would get booed, I wouldn't like it, either. So I just felt for him, and I told him, I’m sorry on behalf of the crowd because I’ve seen that happen in a few earlier games, as well, and in my opinion that’s not acceptable.”
Smith, however, appears to be prepared for this fan reaction in England. The Ashes follows the cricket World Cup and Smith is expected to be targeted heavily by English fans in the traditional face-off.
